I don't know of anything local - Take a look at the "IMA BetterBattery" from Hybrid-Battery-Repair in NY. At 23% more capacity than stock and "only" $1800 (+shipping & exchange) it is probably the best deal out there for Insights.

I recommend thoroughly reading though the forums at insight central dot net before considering buying an Insight. http://www.insightcentral.net/forums/

Having once rebuilt the battery on my '63 Studebaker, I would not recommend the idea to anyone, and the old Willard battery was intended to be rebuilt very easily. A modern battery (including those on hybrid cars) is intended to be disposable at worst or at best, recyclable! A decade old battery has lived an unusually long life already and as 952P points out, the current technology is much better so why spend big bucks to restore an obsolete product to its original limited glory? spend the money to do things properly and let the old unit get melted down. Car batteries including lead-acid, NiMH, and all types of lithium contain metals that are valuable enough to pay for the recycling process so you may not even have to pay for disposal.

COMMENT 215105

2011-09-17 05:28 PM

It's not what 215020 thinks.

It's REPLACING CELLS in the battery. What we often call batteries (i.e. flashlight batteries) are really cells.

In a hybrid vehicle and now electric vehicles the battery is that....a collection of cells. It is possible to replace bad cells and thereby rebuilt the BATTERY.

Might want to try a "junkyard" or whatever it's politically correct name is these days. Salvage yard? They usually have an electronic interconnection with other yards and can locate those type of items if there aren't any locally.

COMMENT 215171

2011-09-18 08:59 AM

The Honda dealer in Santa Barbara recommended I replace my Honda Civic hybrid battery at 190,000 miles. The cost would have been over $2500.

I bought a used battery from Hondas Only in the San Fernando Valley out of a wrecked Honda Civic hybrid with 42,000 miles. I found them through an online search.

The battery was $600 delivered and $300 for installation at Munoz Auto repair on Salinas Street. It has been great. I didn't want to spend $2500 on a car with such high mileage, otherwise the car has been fantastic.